GC PAYROLL · COMMERCIAL GENERAL CONTRACTORS

Payroll mistakes climb the tier list. WageTime keeps the prime’s file airtight.

A commercial GC runs a lean payroll and answers for every other one on the jobsite: subs’ certified payrolls, wrap reports, owner audits. WageTime runs the payroll you actually own, with per-project records built to feed every report the stack above you demands.

Built on infrastructure processing $35B+ in payroll & taxes · 2.8M+ employees paid
SOUND FAMILIAR?

A lean payroll with the whole project’s paperwork attached.

A GC’s payroll problem isn’t volume. It’s exposure: a few dozen names on your own register, and a compliance surface the size of the entire job.

THE SUBS’ FRIDAY PAPER

Every tier’s certified payroll lands on your desk

On covered work, every sub and sub-sub files a weekly certified payroll, and the Department of Labor holds the prime responsible for the whole stack’s compliance. Since the 2023 rule, that liability doesn’t require you to have known anything was wrong, and back wages can be cross-withheld from your other federal contracts.

THE WRAP LEDGER

One payroll, three insurance programs

The hospital job is OCIP. The garage is the developer’s CCIP. The fit-out runs on your own policy. Each wrap wants monthly payroll by comp class code for its project alone, and at your own premium audit you have to prove the wrap payroll out of your policy or pay for the same wages twice.

THE OPEN BOOK

The owner’s auditor reads your payroll register

GMP work is open-book by contract. The owner’s auditor reconciles billed labor to actual payroll, challenges every point of burden in the rate, and treats any labor charged above what payroll actually paid as an overcharge to claw back. The invoice is only as defensible as the register behind it.

THE CREW YOU KEPT

Self-perform trades on your own paper

Most trades are subbed, but the concrete, demo, and carpentry you self-perform keep a real W-2 field crew on your books: nonresidential building construction employs 118,290 carpenters and 113,670 laborers directly, per BLS (May 2023). Classification rates, a union local or two, and your own WH-347 on covered jobs. The crew is small. The paperwork is not.

THE SPLIT SALARY

The super costs three projects money

Salaried supers, PMs, and field engineers get billed to owners inside general conditions, which means their weeks have to be allocated across projects, not just paid. When the allocation lives in a spreadsheet nobody reconciles, every audit finds it first.

The subs’ paper stays your job. Everything on your own register is answered below.
01 · THE PRIME’S OWN PAPER

Your self-perform crew’s WH-347, off the run you already ran.

Like a report, not a project: WageTime generates WH-347s straight from the payroll run, with job-costing segments, for federal public work. It’s a construction add-on, scoped and priced on the demo.

  • Prevailing rates per classification, per project and location.
  • Fringe tracked as cash or against bona fide plans.
  • Split weeks pay by work performed, overtime on the weighted-average rate.
  • Union crews: dues checkoff and fund remittances, as an add-on.
app.wagetime.com/reports/certified-payroll

Certified Payroll · WH-347 · Week ending Fri Jun 12

Riverline Medical Office Building · Fed #C-2209Self-perform concrete & carpentry
Base and fringe per classification, from this project’s wage determination
194.0Certified hours
$5,793.70Gross this week
WorkerHoursGross
Luis M. · Carpenter$34.20 base + $10.45 fringe40.0$1,368.00
Devon P. · Cement Mason$31.75 base + $9.90 fringe38.0$1,206.50
Andre K. · Laborer, Group 2$25.10 base + $7.85 fringe40.0$1,004.00
Marcus T. · Carpenter$34.20 base + $10.45 fringe36.0$1,231.20
Elena V. · Laborer, Group 1$24.60 base + $7.60 fringe40.0$984.00
Fringes itemized to plans, not guessedgenerated from the payroll run

Replaces the Sunday-night spreadsheet that rebuilds your own crew’s week into a federal form, on top of reviewing everyone else’s.

02 · THE WRAP LEDGER

What does OCIP payroll reporting take every month?

Monthly payroll and man-hours by workers’ comp class code, for each enrolled project separately. WageTime codes hours and pay to jobs as the crew works, so the month starts from a filtered register, not a rebuilt spreadsheet.

  • Cost codes up to 40 characters, adjustable to your wrap administrator’s scheme.
  • Labor cost reported by project and crew, per period.
  • At your comp audit, per-project payroll proves wrap wages out of your premium.
  • Reports on a schedule: the month-end pull distributes itself.
app.wagetime.com/time/projects

Labor by Project · June

2 wrap-enrolled projectsLabor split per project
Monthly payroll and man-hours by workers’ comp class code, per enrolled project
408.5Hours in June
$14,057.35Labor cost, June
2Wrap-enrolled jobs
ProjectLaborCoverage
4412 · Riverline Medical Office Building226.0 hrs · mo. wrap report$7,911.40OCIP · owner
4386 · Harbor Point Garage118.5 hrs · mo. wrap report$4,027.15CCIP · dev
4401 · Suite 300 fit-out64.0 hrs · own comp audit$2,118.80Own policy
One register, split per project as the crew worksMonth export ready per project

Replaces the month-end scramble to split one payroll register three ways for three insurance programs.

03 · THE OPEN BOOK, ALREADY KEPT

What does a GMP owner audit ask payroll for?

Billed labor reconciled to what payroll actually paid: that’s the audit. WageTime keeps the register audit-ready as a side effect of running it, so the request letter gets an export, not an excavation.

  • Timesheet attestation, audit-ready change logs, week locking.
  • Full audit logging with effective dating on rates and corrections.
  • Role-based access: entering time and approving it stay separated.
  • Run detail pulls for any billing period, on a schedule.
app.wagetime.com/payroll/audit-trail

Audit Trail · Week of Jun 8-14

Week locked Fri Jun 121 timesheet correction logged
Every change keeps its note, its author, and its effective date, and the week locks at close
RecordEventEffective
Timesheet · J. Ortiz, WedD. Price, foreman · with note6.0 corrected to 8.0Jun 11
Timesheets · week of Jun 8Field crew · attested at close14 of 14 attestedJun 12
Pay rate · M. TorresS. Nguyen · logged Jun 9$32.00 baseJun 15
Week · Jun 8-14S. Nguyen · week closeLocked for runJun 12
Report · run detail by projectAutomatic · no manual pullScheduledMonthly
Every change logged, attested, effective-datedExport for any billing period

Replaces the two-week document hunt after the owner’s audit letter, and the burden math defended from memory.

04 · GENERAL CONDITIONS, ALLOCATED

The super’s week, split the way the owner is billed.

Salaried field staff are one of the largest general-conditions lines, and owners are billed for them by project, so payroll has to allocate those weeks, not just pay them. WageTime codes salaried time to projects in the same run as the crew’s punches.

  • Labor cost by project and crew, so billing ties to actual payroll.
  • GPS-stamped, geofenced punches from every jobsite.
  • GL export with configurable segment mapping; QuickBooks posting by department.
app.wagetime.com/reports/labor-allocation

Labor Allocation · Week of Jun 8-14

3 projects activeSalaried time allocated
Salaried project staff and the self-perform crew allocate in the same run
$12,728.70Week labor cost
3Projects active
Sarah D.Superintendent$2,485.00
4412 (60%) · 4386 (40%)Billed to owner
Owen C.Project manager$2,690.00
4412 (100%)Billed to owner
Priya N.Field engineer$1,760.00
4386 (70%) · 4401 (30%)Billed to owner
Field crew (5)Self-perform crew$5,793.70
Concrete & carpentry · per punchJob-costed
Salaried weeks split the way the owner is billedCarried to GL export

Replaces the allocation spreadsheet between payroll and the billing, and the argument it starts every audit.

05 · ONE LOGIN, EVERY ENTITY

JVs and project LLCs, each on its own EIN.

WageTime runs multi-entity payroll natively: the operating company, the JV, and the project LLC each run under their own EIN, while you work from one login across the group.

  • Each EIN files its own taxes automatically, deposits included.
  • Reporting runs per company or combined.
  • W-2 employees and 1099 workers on one run, W-2s and 1099s filed.
  • Pricing stays $50 a month per company plus $10 per person paid.
  • Unlimited runs, no long-term contracts.
app.wagetime.com/companies

Companies · June payroll

3 entities · one loginAll filings automatic
Each entity runs under its own EIN and files its own taxes, from one login
3Entities, one login
33People paid in June
CompanyPeople paidMonth net
Meridian Builders LLCEIN 82-4471962 · operating co18$128,930.40
Harbor Point JV LLCEIN 92-1140276 · joint venture9$61,447.25
Meridian Interiors LLCEIN 87-3318504 · fit-out co6$38,204.10
June net across the group$228,581.75Reporting combined or per company

Replaces three payroll logins, three invoices, and a group picture assembled by hand in a spreadsheet.

PRICING

Simple payroll pricing. No surprises.

Full-service payroll is $10 a month per person paid that month, plus $50 a month per company, with unlimited runs. No long-term contracts, no per-run charges.

  • Full-service payroll, unlimited runs
  • Federal, state & local tax filing
  • Year-end W-2s & 1099s
  • Direct deposit, checks & pay cards
  • Contractor payments & filings
  • Off-cycle runs & bonuses, no extra fee
  • Employee paystubs & W-2 access
  • QuickBooks integration
$10/mo per person paid
+ $50/mo per company

Off-cycle runs and bonuses cost nothing extra. No long-term contracts; cancel anytime.

Example: 50 people paid × $10 + $50 company = $550 for the month

HR & hiring, onboarding, PTO, time tracking, benefits, and workers’ comp are optional add-ons, priced separately when you’re ready.

See a demo
THE INFRASTRUCTURE BEHIND WAGETIME
$35B+
in payroll & taxes paid
2.8M+
employees paid
4.3M+
W-2s & 1099s filed
100%
of tax filings automated

Commercial GC payroll FAQ

Who is responsible for certified payroll, the general contractor or the subcontractor?

Both file weekly on covered work, and the prime answers for the whole tier: DOL holds the prime responsible for subcontractor and lower-tier Davis-Bacon compliance, and under the 2023 rule that liability applies whether or not the prime knew. WageTime generates your own crew’s WH-347 from the run as a construction add-on, scoped and priced on the demo. Reviewing subs’ reports stays your job, in LCPtracker or your agency’s portal.

What is OCIP payroll reporting, and where does the data come from?

An owner- or contractor-controlled insurance program (OCIP/CCIP) asks each enrolled contractor to report on-site payroll and man-hours monthly, by workers’ comp class code, per project. In WageTime, hours and pay are coded to each project as the crew works, so the month’s numbers come off the labor-by-project report instead of a hand-split register.

Can the owner really audit our payroll on a GMP job?

Yes. GMP contracts are open-book, and owner auditors reconcile billed labor and burden to actual payroll records, timesheets included. WageTime keeps that trail by default: attested timesheets with change logs, weeks locked at close, rate changes effective-dated, and run detail reportable for any billing period.

We self-perform concrete and carpentry with a union crew. Can one payroll run the crew and the office?

Yes. The salaried project staff and the self-perform crew run in the same payroll, and union payroll runs as an add-on, scoped and priced on the demo: multiple locals and classifications, dues checkoff, fringe calculations, and fund contribution handling inside the run. A crew member who works two classifications in one week gets overtime on the weighted-average regular rate automatically.

Each project runs through its own LLC or joint venture. Does that mean separate payroll systems?

No. Multi-entity is native: every company runs under its own EIN with its own automatic filings, and you manage the group from one login with per-company or combined reporting. Adding the next project entity is setup, not another subscription.

What does WageTime cost for a GC?

$50 per month per company plus $10 per person paid that month, with unlimited runs, so weekly pay for the crew and an off-cycle check cost nothing extra. Certified payroll and union payroll are add-ons, scoped and priced on the demo. Onboarding and migration are full-service and paid; we’ll scope the cutover on the same call.

Bring one project’s paper.

A wage determination, the wrap manual’s reporting section, or the owner’s last audit request, plus a week of the crew’s time. Twenty minutes with a payroll specialist on a live demo company: you’ll see the WH-347 generate, the labor-by-project split, the audit trail, and the invoice math for your entities.

Book a 20-minute demo